A new online survey, Our Way Science, has been launched to gather the scientific priorities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The survey, developed by Yulang, an Aboriginal-led consultancy, with funding from CSIRO, aims to inform future scientific work by CSIRO.
According to the report, the survey asks about priorities across many areas, including Caring for Country, health and wellbeing, climate, and cultural heritage and knowledge.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Knowledge Systems
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been practising, growing and sharing science and knowledge for more than 65,000 years. Their knowledge systems come from deep relationships with Country, careful observation, practice, testing, teaching and responsibility across generations.
From a Muruwari perspective, the natural, spiritual and cosmological worlds are interconnected. Mayi, meaning Country, is not something separate from the people: they are part of Country, and Country is part of them.
Their relationships extend to their kin, including non-human relations, and to their Mayi. These relationships shape how they understand knowledge, evidence, responsibility and science.
Indigenous science is not just another source of information, but rather a distinct way of knowing, being, and doing that is rooted in the relationships and responsibilities that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have with their Country and kin. This fundamental difference is key in understanding the significance of Indigenous knowledge systems and their role in shaping the science agenda.
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Survey Significance
The Our Way Science survey matters because it allows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to nominate their priority topics for scientific inquiry. The survey’s aim is not to ask communities to fit their priorities into an existing science agenda, but to help shape what that agenda should be.
Science and technology create enormous opportunities: to care for and reconnect with Country, to improve health and wellbeing, to strengthen communities, to create new industries, to protect knowledge and to respond to climate change.
However, they can also create risks when research is extractive, when Indigenous knowledge is used without proper authority or benefit, or when communities have little say over what is researched and why.
As Dr Cas Sedran-Price, a proud Muruwari/Gangugari woman and Senior Researcher at the University Centre for Rural Health, University of Sydney, notes, the survey is an opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to shape the science agenda.
The survey is open until 21 September. The survey is a key step in ensuring that the voices and priorities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are heard and valued in the development of future scientific research.
By participating in the survey, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can help to shape the future of scientific research and ensure that it is conducted in a way that prioritizes their needs, values, and knowledge systems.